S-2878 • L1 Alonluna • D17 Fluxli
"Alonluna sustains a light already ripe. Fluxli releases the thread in a gentle curve. Gaia draws the tide in silver on high. The story catches its breath and carries on."
Gotta say, I'm more about acting than analyzing, but a mission like that called for some caution.
We scouted the prison's surroundings. A one-kilometer security zone circled the place. We were on a balcony a thousand meters away. Maia and Kiara talked among themselves. While the android searched for a position, the girl came over to me. Stayed quiet.
"Heard it was your birthday a few selunas back, chica." I rested my arms on the low wall. "Abeli of Silenluna?"
She glanced at me.
"Wherever you're from, everyone wears the same expression on that date. Still a blessed day, though." I smiled. "Feliz cumpleaños. You really are a muchacha with layers."
Maia stayed impassive. Then sighed. "Gracias." She gave a crooked smile and walked away.
Once we finished the analysis, we came up with a plan.
On the Deadline Seluna
Dunno what kinda abilities those two have. All I know is they were unbeatable at breaking into places. Kiara found one of Fuchū's security center locations. We'd infiltrate it to disable part of the nanosystem.
Kiara would open a window on the first floor. Maia would enter the prison, and I'd join her afterward. The android would cover us as a sniper.
The nanosystem would be restored in thirty minutes. Maintenance was scheduled that night. The command room's power center would be slow to respond to emergencies.
That would give us two hours to work our magic.
Everything was going well.
When the Time Came
The room was in a commercial building. Packed with civilians. Shops. Robots. Androids. If anything went off plan, if we had to improvise, we could be detected.
We blended into the crowd. Kiara made the first move: slipped through a restricted-access door near an abandoned staircase.
Five minutes passed.
KNOCK KNOCK Two knocks. Our code.
Bodies lay on the floor. Kiara had an android in a chokehold. Her eyes glowed violet. The android writhed in her arms. A wire extended from her wrist, connecting to the machine's core.
ZIIII ZIII ZIII A piercing whine.
A man knelt in front of her.
"Work your magic."
I approached him. His eyes wide. "C'mon, cabrón. Understand me?"
He nodded.
I smelled the fear pouring off him. Feeding me. I grinned wide. "Muy bién. Time to go to hell."
The man's eyes widened. Pupils dilated. His face froze in a silent scream. I watched his awareness evaporate. Watched his sanity drain away like smoke. He was already far from there. Fear consumed him completely. He fell backward. Moaning in terror.
Ah, that sound… got me so excited! Delirium seized me. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. My eyes burned with fervor. "Rather die than reveal your secrets? Gonna show you something much worse than death."
Lemme tell you about my ability, chica.
Know why I'm a cyborg?
Because in 2850, when I'd lived nine cycles, some piece of shit kidnapped me, stole my heart, and, with a special kind of cruelty, replaced it with one that had a seluna left to live.
I left my hometown, Medellín, Colombia, and went to São Paulo. A guy knew another guy. Who knew a woman. Who knew another. In the end, they told me I'd find the answer in Nobody's Land.
I wanted to live, chica. I'd pay the price.
The mercenaries took me to Netheria. I met the Patriarch. He said I'd live. He'd give me a new heart. A new nanotechnology they were testing. Every test subject had died. I had a five percent chance of survival. Know what I thought? Gonna die anyway. Might as well die fighting.
They implanted a nanoheart. Thanacore. More than getting my life back, I gained this ability.
I transmit some nanites into someone's cardiovascular system. Those little nanobots travel through the veins to the brain, releasing high doses of adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Makes the person relive their greatest fear. So unbearable they wanna kill themselves. At the peak, I stop the transmission, and they submit to me completely for a few minutes.
Enough minutes to tell the guard to disable security. He shut down the nanosystem and collapsed on the floor in the fetal position. Babbling, eyes glazed.
Kiara hacked the android. "Programmed him to disable the nanosystem when it restarts. He'll shut off the security cameras. Then shoot himself in the chest."
The Break-In
We headed for the prison. We had an hour before the power came back.
Kiara and I split up.
The area with the disabled nanosystem was dimly lit. Guards moved around. I waited for Kiara to take care of some of them.
Jumped through the window.
Maia had left a trail of bodies. Without a drop of blood. How'd she do that? Who knows.
I followed the trail. Took the elevator down to the twelfth basement level. The doors opened. A line of bodies stretched to the end of the corridor.
Maia and a young Japanese man faced off.
His voice echoed through the floor. Dripping contempt. "I'm only leaving with the Ninkyō dantai. It's a disgrace to have some fucking gaijin rescuing me." Kotaro. His lips tightened, and he spat at her feet.
Didn't matter what those words meant. I didn't like the sound of them one fucking bit.
I was about to grab him by the hair, but Maia stopped me with a gesture. "No. He refuses to be rescued by us. Let's go." She narrowed her eyes and walked toward the elevator.
I glared at the cabrón and followed her.
"That's right, gaijin. Know your place." He smirked.
Only Maia's warning look kept me from smashing the mierda's face in.
We were near the elevator. A scream of agony echoed through the entire floor.
Kotaro fell to the ground. Writhing in pain.
I glanced sideways at the girl.
Maia's expression hadn't changed. My gut told me she'd done something to him.
"W-what did y—" He tried to get up.
"Maybe he's changed his mind. Wanna help him?" There was something dark about Maia.
I walked over to the boy with a satisfied smile. "C'mon, you bastard." Lifted him by the hair and threw him over my shoulder.
The kid was almost paralyzed. Kotaro groaned in pain. "You'll fucking see! I'm telling my oyabun!" he threatened through clenched teeth.
On the first floor, the boy hit my back. "Let me go. LET ME GO!" Hit me again. "I can move now."
I dropped him on the floor with great satisfaction.
The guy stared at me like he'd eaten shit and hated the taste. Imán de cagadas.
"Kasu, you'll see," he kept repeating. Cursing us in Japanese. Kotaro's face was red. Sweaty. A bomb about to explode.
I held back from crushing the mierda's head.
Yeah, chica. Should've done it.
The brainless kid lunged at the wall and hit the alarm button.
Hell broke loose.
Maia grabbed him by the hair and hurled him to the floor. Pressed her knee against his neck and brought her face close to his. "They asked us to rescue you alive. Said nothing about keeping you in one piece." She broke one of his fingers.
Kotaro howled in pain.
"Better behave, ketsumedo yarou." She broke another finger. Let him go.
"Shi'ne! Shi'ne!" Kotaro screamed. Eyes watering.
I doubled over laughing. What a delicious sight! Readied Rompe-culos. Waited. My sweetheart was dying for another taste.
PEEOW! PEEOW! PEEOW! The alarm sounded.
We heard the guards' footsteps.
Kotaro stood. Stared at his hand. Furious desperation.
Maia joined me. Pistol in hand. "Protect him. Kiara's coming."
We ran outside. More guards appeared.
I roared in fury. Euphoria took over. Rompe-culos thundered.
The first guard burst like a balloon of flesh. The second had his chest torn open.
Screams. A rain of blood. I slipped on something warm. Brains. My body blazed with adrenaline. I killed another. And another. And another. And another. Bodies fell apart.
A red hell opened before me. A spectacle of blood and fire. Pure carnage. Organs and robotic parts rained down on us. I bathed in the bastards' blood. "Move, montón de mierda. Fucking cagón!"
That fucker Kotaro understood my order. Picked up a gun from the ground. With his broken fingers, his shooting was shit. Still managed to kill a few pigs, though.
Maia moved along the flank. Agile. Silent.
What followed was a sea of blood. Screams. So much frenzy.
Kiara grabbed the Kotaro kid.
The nanopower came back. The nanosensors immobilized us. Maia and I were neutralized before we could reach her.
Forced to our knees.
They arrested us.